Thousands marched for access to abortion rights in Northern Ireland’s capital
Text and photos: Carmen Garcia Gonzalez
7th of September. The big day had come. Thousands of people from the north and the south of Ireland took the streets in Belfast at the Rally for Choice to demand for access to free, safe legal and local abortion.
In the north, unlike the rest of the UK or the Republic of Ireland, abortion is still illegal. Even though it has been legal in Great Britain since 1963 and this past May in the Republic of Ireland the referendum to repeal the 8th amendment passed by 67% yes vote.
Grassroots organizations such as Alliance for Choice Derry, Letrim Abortion Rights Campaign, Tipperary for Choice, Donegal Abortion Rights Campaign, Galway Pro- Choice, Galway East for Choice, among others travelled to the north to protest and show solidarity.
“The North is Now” became the main message from the women in Ireland in solidarity with the pregnant people in the north. A rallying cry for pro-choice activists who acknowledged abortion access in the south would never have happened without the support or the feminists in the north.
No matter if it was one hour or four-hours of travel time, they were all there, according to the life long social defender Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, asking for the right “to make choices ourselves”, regardless gender, sexual orientation, origin or disabilities.
A great day and amazing moment in history. The masses of people marching shoulder to shoulder with their heads held high, chanting at once and protesting against the violation of rights of pregnant people living in the north and the south of Ireland.
Anti-choicers shaking the rosary beads at the people in the march, white men giving the finger and shouting at them were the disgraceful actions that reveals misogyny and violence against women are actual issues in the region.
There is no stopping the fact that change is in the air. Come October 21st, if the Northern Ireland government is not reassembled, legislation will pass granting abortion rights in the six counties.
But we must listen to Bernadette’s warnings; we must not celebrate too soon and give up the fight. We must continue to fight even after there is legal access to abortion because as we have seen in the Republic of Ireland, legislation does not equal inclusive access for all and there are still people left behind.
We will keep fighting and pushing for free, safe, legal, local until it is a reality and if that reality is achieved, we will fight to keep it.
Final speeches were delivered by Kellie Turtle, feminist activist with Alliance for Choice, Rally for Choice and Belfast Feminist Network; Gemma Hutton, LGBTQ rights activist and queer artist; Ivanka Antova, anti-racist feminist from United Against Racism Belfast; Clare Moore, Trade Union leader; Shannon Patterson, activist from Derry for Choice; Hansavani Rajeswaren, anti-racist, feminist activist within the student movement; Faolan Hook, trans rights activist from GenderJam; and Bernadtte Devlin McAliskey, migrant right activist and lifelong defender of civil worker’s and women’s rights.
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